mch710

Please note my co-worker and I have been arguing this. He wants an answer, but doesn't want to set up his own account so I'm letting him use my login.

Co-worker asks:

I called AA and asked them if one could purchase tickets for 2 qualifying trips and earn the free ticket, without actually travelling. They said no.

Just to be clear, I was pretty sure they were going to tell me no. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what the motivation is for requiring people to travel.

AA gets my money whether or not I'm physically sitting on the plane. So why should it care which it is, as long as the company is making money on each passenger who participates? (Let's assume one can't cancel or re-schedule flights once booked). Theoretically, the more flight promotions it sells, the more it earns. In fact, AA might even save more money if people didn't fly, since they would have less in-flight expenses like beverages and food.

However, since AA doesn't let you buy 2 and get one free without travelling, one has to assume that the promotion itself isn't profitable for the company. It is actually important to AA that passengers fly to their intended cities. So, what, then, could be the purpose of that requirement?

My only guess is that AA may have partnerships and business arrangements with various vendors who expect AA to deliver people to their various cities to spend oodles of money. Perhaps hotels and car rental agencies kick back a certain percentage to the airlines for business flown their way.

Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on the subject?